Journal box lid



2 sheets-Sheet l Q lNVENTo'R BY Hbert L5' ATTORNEY Feb. I7, 1942.

H. l.. sPENcE JOURNAL Box LID Filed Jan. 13, 1940. 2- Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR BYHwba-t LMS' ce fu-Jy A1'roRNEY Patented Feb. 17, 1942 UNETEDk STAT JOURNAL BOX LID Application January 13, 1940, Serial No.313,753'

Claims.

This invention relatesY to lids for covering the opening in the end. ofrailway journal boxes so as to prevent' entry of dust and other foreignmatter into the interior of the box.

The two-part or articulated lid has been found to be a most successfultype for use with the usual form of hinge lug on present-day journalboxes. In this type of lid one of the parts thereof is pivoted on thehinge lug and the other part, hereinafter referred to as the closuremember, is fastened to the first part so as to enable universal movementbetween the parts. Thus the closure member may pivot so as to engage theouter face of the opening on all four sides. On some lids a series ofribs project from the inner side of the closure member and engage theface of the box opening when the lid is closed. After a short period ofservice these ribs cut grooves in the engaging surface of the box due tovibrations of the moving car. The ribs fitting into the grooves form avery effective seal for the journal box opening.

The lids are frequently opened for inspection of the interior of the boxand, unless some means is provided to prevent it, the closure part ofthe lid may move slightly in a transverse direction relative to theother part so that upon closing the lid the ribs will not match with thegrooves previously formed in the box. This will result in a new seriesof grooves being cut in the box or mutilation of the ribs or both.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means for simply andpositively returning the ribs to their proper positions in the groovesupon successive openings and closings of the lid.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view in side elevation of a part of a journal box havingapplied thereto a lid embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section through the lid and journal box.

Figure 3 is a sectional View on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the lid.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view showing a modification of theinvention; and

Figure 6 isv a view of another'modication of my invention.

rThe journal box I0 is formed with a hinge lug II having surfaces I2 andI3 arranged at an angle to each other in the usual manner for contactingone end of a lever mounted in the lid. The lid is formed in two partsand comprises a housing I4 pivotally mounted on the hinge lug by meansof a pin l5, and a closure member I6 pivotally connected to the lowerend of the housing. Closure member Ii is provided with outwardlyextending projections I'I which are adapted to receive a pin I8 thatforms the pivotal connection between the housing and closure member. PinI8 seats into a groove I9 in the housing for maintaining the housing andclosure in assembled relation. The bottom of groove I9 is curved, asshown at 20- in Fig. 3, so as to provide for rocking movement betweenthe pin and the housing.

A lever 2| is mounted in the housing for universal movement relativethereto by means of the ball projection 22' which is received in asocket 23 in the housing. One end of the lever is in engagement withsurface I2 on the hinge lug when the lid is in closed position, as shownby the full lines in Fig. 2. When in open position the end of the leveris in engagementwith surface I3 of the hinge lug, as shown by thedot-dash lines of Fig. 2. At the opposite end of the lever is a l pocket24 that receives one end of coil spring 25.

If desired, an inner coil 26 may be used to obtain the necessary springpressure. The other end of the spring is received in a depression 21 ofthe closure member and bears against the closure member at approximatelythe center thereof. The pressure of the spring also serves to maintainythe bottom of groove I9 in engagement with pin I8 and thus up and downbodily movement of closure member I6 relative to housing I4 over surface3l is prevented.

On the side of the closure member facing the journal box opening is arib or series of ribs 30 that extend around the four sides of theclosure. These ribs are in engagement with surface 3I of the journal boxwhich in the drawings is shown as a plane surface. As the car travelsover the track a certain amount of vibration is transmitted to thejournal box and lid which causes the projections 3i) to wear grooves insurface 3l. Since the parts of a railway journal box lid are usuallyrough castings or stampings, fairly liberal tolerances are permitted inmaking the parts so that the cost of the lid. will not be too great forthe purpose intended. Relative movement between. the housing and closuremembers cannot therefore be limited to such an extent that projections30 will always enter the grooves in surface 3| Without considerablyincreasing the cost of the lid. It will be observed that clearance 32,32Y is present between the lower end of the housing and the innersurfaces 3-3 of projections Il. To permit the amount of movementindicated by clearance 32, 32 to take place between the mem-v bers wouldsoon` destroy the eff-:ect of the: projec-A tions and grooves, for it ismost unlikely that the position of the closure member on the housingwould always be in the same place upon successive closing of the lid. Inmy invention I provide positive means for urging the closure member inone direction laterally relative to the housing so that certain surfacesof said parts are always in contact and the aforementioned free relativemovement between the closure and housing does not result.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4 I obtain this resultby tipping or offsetting the ends of the coil spring, which causes acomponent of the force of the spring to be exerted on the closure memberin the direction of the arrow, as shown in Fig. 3. Th'e closure memberis thus moved in this direction until lugs 34, 34' on the closure engageouter surface 35 on one side of the housing. It has been found that ifthese surfaces are not in engagement when the parts are first assembledthe closure member will move until the aforementioned surfaces do engageupon one or two openings and closings of the lid. Moreover, in service,the vibration of the journal box would normally loosen the friction onthe various parts so as to permit the pressure of the spring to urge theclosure member in the proper direction to cause engagement of lugs 34,34' and surface 35. If desired, lugs 34, 34' may be placed on housingI4, and projecting outwardly therefrom so as to engage rib 28 of theclosure member.

It will be observed in Figs. 3 and 4 that the lower end of lever 2l isin engagement with the inner wall 3B of the closure member, as at 31.The force of the spring in its angled position tends to urge thesesurfaces into engagement. 'Ihe portions of the lever on either side ofball 22 are therefore slightly angled relative to each other. Thisangularity may be avoided by either placing a pad of metal on surface 36so as to position spring housing 24 midway between the depending sidewalls of housing member I4, or placing a similar pad of metal on thecontacting portion of spring housing 24 adjacent surface 36.

Another embodiment of my invention is shown in Fig. 5, in which the pin4I] which pivotally connects the housing 4I with the closure 42, istipped slightly in a direction transverse to the lid, so that the springis at angle to a line normal to the pin. Hence the component of theforce of the spring that is parallel to pin 4l) will cause closuremember 42 to slide down the sloping curved surface 43 until lug 44 onthe closure contacts the outer surface 45 of the housing. A lug, similarto lug 34 shown in Fig. 4, is provided at the upper end of housing 4I soas to limit lateral movement of the upper end of the closure memberrelative to the housing.

In both of these embodiments the relative movement between the closureand housing takes place either upon or soon after application of the lidto the journal box, and thereafter the surfaces -on the closure andhousing are maintained in contact so that once the projections 30 startcutting grooves into surface 3I of the journal box, the closure memberis returned to substantially the identical position each time the lid isclosed.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a still further embodiment of my invention inwhich a spring 50, shown in the form of a leaf spring, is positionedbetween an outwardly extending rib I on the closure member 52 and sidewall 53 on housing 54 so as to urge the closure member in one directionlaterally of the journal box. A stop 55 on the lower end of the housingand a, similar stop (not shown) at the upper end thereof are adapted tobe engaged by the closure member to limit this movement. between thelever and closure member need not be tipped as shown in Fig. 3, n ordoes the pin joining the housing and closure member need to be sloped asshown in Fig. 5, since the force of spring 50 is suiiicient to maintainthe closure member in the desired relation to the housing. Of course, ifdesired, spring means similar to spring 50 may be used in either of theembodiments shown in Figs. 3 or 5.

It will thus be apparent that my invention provides means for urging theclosure member in on'e direction relative to the housing member so thatthe box engaging surface of the closure (ribs 30) will be urged in onedirection parallel -to surface 3| on the journal box until stop means onthe members prevents further movement. At the same time, pivotalmovement of the closure member relative to the housing may take place sothat the closure member will bear on the journal box around the entireextent of the journal box v opening.

For purposes of assembly, a slot 46 is provided in the lower end of thehousing member to admit a wedge (shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 2) sothat the lower end or lever 2I may be forced toward the closure member,thus relieving the pressure of the upper end of the lever on the hingelug, after which the hinge pin I5 may be readily removed and the lidtaken off the box.

The terms and expressions which I have ernployed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize thatvarious modifications are possible within the scope of the inventionclaimed.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a journal box having an opening in one endthereof and a hinge lug adjacent said opening, a journal box lid forclosing said opening comprising a housing member pivoted to said hingelug and a closure member pivoted to said housing member, a lever memberpivoted on said housing member and having one end engaging said hingelug, spring means between the other end of said lever member and saidclosure member for forcing the latter towards said opening, and meanscomprising sloping surfaces on certain of said members adapted to directa component of force of said spring means in a direction at an-angle tothe longitudinal axis of said spring means for urging said closuremember in one direction transversely of said journal box, relative tosaid housing member.

2. In combination with a journal box having an opening with a lidengaging surface at one end thereof, a lid for closing said opening,said lid comprising a housing pivoted to said journal box and a closurepivoted to said housing and adapted to cover said opening, spring meansurging said closure toward said opening, and means including said springmeans acting on said closure and said housing for urging said closure inone direction` parallel to said surface relative to said housing so asto bring said closure into contact with said box in substantially thesame position during successive closings of said lid.

3. In combination with a journal box having an opening with a lidengaging surface at one In this form of the invention the springl endthereof and a hinge lug adjacent said opening, a journal box lid forclosing said opening comprising a housing member pivoted to said hingelug and a closure member pivoted to said housing member, a lever pivotedon said housing member and having one end engaging said hinge lug,spring means between the other end of said lever and said closure memberfor forcing the latter towards said surface, said spring means beingpositioned in said lid so as to exert a component of force on saidclosure member in a transverse direction and urge said closure membertransversely of said box relative to said housing member in a directionparallel to said lid engaging surface.

4. In combination with a journal box having an opening at one endthereof and a. plane surface surrounding said opening, a lid for saidbox, said lid comprising a housing member pivoted to said journal boxand a closure member pivoted to said housing and having portions adaptedto engage said plane surface for closing said opening, spring meansbetween said members for urging said closure member toward said openingand means comprising surfaces disposed at an acute angle to said planesurface adapted to transmit a component of the force of said springmeans in a direction parallel to said plane surface for urging saidclosure member in one direction relative to said housing parallel tosaid plane surface.

5. A journal box lid comprising a housing member and a closure member,said closure member having a surface adapted to engage a journal box forclosing the opening in the end thereof, means for joining said membersfor universal pivotal movement and for a limited amount of transversemovement therebetween in a direction parallel to said surface, stopmeans on said members adapted to engage upon said amount of transversemovement, and spring means exerting a force on said members formaintaining said stop means in engagement.

6. A journal box lid comprising housing and closure members, saidclosure member having a surface adapted to engage a journal box forclosing the opening in the end thereof, means joining said members forrelative pivotal movement and transverse bodily movement in a directionparallel to said surface, stop means on said members for limiting saidbodily movement, and spring means exerting a force on said members forurging said stop means into engagement.

7. A journal box lid comprising housing and closure members, saidclosure member having a surface adapted to engage a journal box forclosing the opening in the end thereof, means joining said members for`relative transverse bodily movement therebetween, spaced stop means onsaid members for limiting said bodily movement, spring means betweensaid members, and means comprising surfaces disposed at an acute angleto said box engaging surface adapted to transmit a component of theforce of said spring means in a direction parallel to said box engagingsurface for urging said stop means into engagement.

8. A journal box lid comprising a housing member and a closure member,means pivotally y joining said members, spring means acting on saidmembers, said spring means being positioned in said lid relative to saidjoining means so as to exert a force on one of said members in adirection axially of said joining means adapted to urge said closuremember relative to said housing Amember in onedirection only axially ofsaid joining means.

9. A journal box lid comprising a housing member and a closure member,said closure member having a surface adapted to engage the end of ajournal box, means joining said members and enabling relative pivotaland transverse movement therebetween, and spring means acting on saidmembers, said spring means being positioned in said lid relative to saidjoining means so as to exert a force on one of said members in adirection axially of said joining means adapted to urge said closuremember in one direction parallel to said surface relative to saidhousing member.

10. A journal box lid comprising a housing member, and a closure memberhaving a box engaging surface, said members being joined for relativebodily movement in a direction parallel to said box engaging surface,and spring means between and acting on said members for urging saidclosure member in one direction parallel to said surface relative tosaid housing member.

HUBERT L. SPENCE.

